Device that calculates the amount of water dispersed by plants
Lysimeter station in Kittendorf, Germany
A field lysimeter (from Greek λύσις (loosening) and the suffix -meter) is a cylindrical container filled with soil, which can be used to study the transport of water and material through the soil. This type of lysimeter can be equipped with different measuring probes at different depth (e.g., soil temperature, tensiometer for measuring water tension). The soil contained in the field lysimeter can either be collected as a monolith (i.e., in one piece) or be reconstructed from the different layers present at the sampling site. Most lysimeters contain an opening at the bottom allowing the leachate to be collected and analyzed over time.
Lysimeters can be used to measure the amount of actual evapotranspiration which is released by plants (usually crops or trees). By recording the amount of precipitation that an area receives and the amount lost through the soil, the amount of water lost to evapotranspiration can be calculated. [1] There are multiple types of lysimeters, with each designed for specific purposes; the choice of lysimeter depends on project objectives, parameters to be measured, and the environmental conditions under investigation. Some types of lysimeters include:
Weighing Lysimeters
Principle: Measures changes in the weight of the lysimeter to determine water balance
Operation: The lysimeter is placed on a scale and changes in weight are recorded over time, allowing for the calculation of evaporation, transpiration, and drainage
Suction Lysimeters
Principle: Used negative pressure (suction) to extract soil water for analysis
Operation: A porous cup is buried in the soil and a vacuum is applied to extract water from the surrounding soil; collected water can be analyzed for nutrients, contaminants, or other parameters
Drainage Lysimeters
Principle: Collects water that drains through the soil profile
Operation: These lysimeters have a collection system to capture water that moved through the soil; collected water is analyzed to study leaching and nutrient transport
Field Lysimeters
Principle: Installed directly in the field to simulate natural soil-plant interaction
Operation: The system mimics natural conditions, allowing researchers to study the impact of various factors on soil water movement, nutrient cycling, and plant growth; field lysimeters can be installed with weighted systems to determine water balance
Greenhouse Lysimeters
Principle: Similar to field lysimeters but installed in controlled greenhouse environments
Operation: A controlled setting is provided to studying soil-water interactions, allowing researchers to manipulate environmental conditions and monitor plan responses
Zero Tension Lysimeters
Principle: Measured drainage under zero tension conditions
Operation: The system is designed to collect water from the soil without the application of suction, allowing researchers to study natural drainage patterns
Capillary Lysimeters
Principle: Utilizes capillary action to collect soil water
Operation: Capillary forces draw water into the lysimeter; this type of lysimeter is often used to study water movement in the vadose zone (above the water table)
Pressure Plate Lysimeters
Principle: Measured soil water retention characteristics
Operation: Pressure is applied to the soil to extract water at different tension settings, this helps to characterize the soil's ability to retain water
The list above is not comprehensive; there are many types of lysimeters and many ways that lysimetry can be utilized to understand soil-porewater relationships.
For the rest of this article, "lysimeter" refers to a field lysimeter for understanding interaction between soil-plant interactions.
^Davie, Tim (2003). Fundamentals of Hydrology. Psychology Press. ISBN 978-0-415-22028-6.[page needed]
A field lysimeter (from Greek λύσις (loosening) and the suffix -meter) is a cylindrical container filled with soil, which can be used to study the transport...
Evapotranspiration can be measured directly with a weighing or pan lysimeter. A lysimeter continuously measures the weight of a plant and associated soil...
the genus Massilia and family Oxalobacteraceae, which was isolated from lysimeter soil. Colonies of M. brevitalea are pale white to yellow in color. The...
the same surroundings as would occur naturally, thus providing a small lysimeter. Further methods include estimation by means of comparing the droplets...
soil is too dry, moist or wet for plants.[citation needed] Hygrometer Lysimeter Arnold, James E. "Soil Moisture". NASA. Retrieved 15 June 2015. Soil moisture...
and growth stage on dewfall, determined with high precision weighing lysimeters at a site in northern Germany". Journal of Hydrology. 377 (1–2): 43–49...
soil as affected by cropping and cover crops (Technical report). Windsor Lysimeter Series C. New Haven: Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station. pp. 731–759...
meter Saturated calomel electrode Hygrometer the density of water in air Lysimeter the balance of water in soil Photometry is the measurement of light in...
plants can be measured by a number of techniques, including potometers, lysimeters, porometers, photosynthesis systems and thermometric sap flow sensors...
the reserve's research facilities include over 50 gauged watersheds, a lysimeter complex, two major dams and reservoirs—San Dimas Dam and Big Dalton Dam—and...
"hillsides" inside the pre-existing domes as the world’s largest weighing lysimeter, with design and implementation construction constrained by the limited...
windshear alert system low-pressure area (L) low-topped supercell (LT) lysimeter An instrument used to measure the total amount of evapotranspiration that...
Retrieved February 3, 2010, from Bioreactor.org: [3] Murphyb, S. R. (1992). A lysimeter study of the aerobic landfill concept . Waste Management & Research ,...
kilometers). The detailed independent model was evaluated against weighing lysimeter measured ET, infrared temperature (IRT) and net radiometer of drought‐tolerant...
FAO in 2002. Most studies were made with pot or drum experiments or in lysimeters under controlled conditions. The collection of field data under farmers'...
long-term lysimeter experiment to investigate the environmental dispersion of the herbicide chloridazon and its metabolites—comparison of lysimeter types...
and reactive tracers through a naturally structured upland podzol field lysimeter". Journal of Hydrology. 300 (1–4): 1–19. doi:10.1016/j.jhydrol.2004.04...
Caldwell Field, Professor Lyon performed numerous field studies, including lysimeter and plat experiments. In 1913, he and fellow Cornell Professor James A...
veterinary school. His experiments there led him to the invention of the lysimeter, a tool used to extract and analyze soil solution. He was secretary of...
scientific instrument engineering, including the production of PE-HD lysimeter stations "Katalog der Deutschen Nationalbibliothek". portal.dnb.de. Retrieved...
"Degradation of Sulfadiazine by Microbacterium lacus Strain SDZm4, Isolated from Lysimeters Previously Manured with Slurry from Sulfadiazine-Medicated Pigs". Applied...
Dimitri (2020). "Estimation of direct evaporation from groundwater by using lysimeters in the Salar de Pedernales basin, Chilean Altiplano". Acta Universitaria...
Agricultural Science. Sturtevant is credited with building the first lysimeter in America. It was put to use on Waushakum Farm in 1875, and records of...
water-sediment systems under aerobic and anaerobic conditions and fate in soil lysimeters. These studies provide little insight into how individual transformation...
Fraser; R. J. McPherson; D. F. Harrison; P. Harbottle (September 1992). "Lysimeters Without Edge Flow: An Improved Design and Sampling Procedure". Soil Science...
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